ABBA

In 1946, he was drafted into The Twin Tones by arranger and singer-songwriter Alan Copeland, who was just returning from his tour of duty with the U.S. Navy. Just a year later, Tom was moonlighting with The Blue Reys, named after bandleader Alvino Rey, with whom they recorded “If You Knew Suzie”, although it may never have been released. In 1959, he was in the studio with Mel Torme, as a member of the Mel-Tones, recording tracks for the album, Back in Town.

His most famous recording may be “Moon River”, which he recorded with Henry Mancini in 1960 for inclusion in the film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, released the following year. A decade later, he was in the studio with Billy May and the Time-Life Orchestra, recording “Moonlight Cocktail” and “Serenade in Blue”, which were featured on the albums, The Swing Era Encore: The Day of the Great Entertainers and The Swing Era Curtain Call: The Sounds of Swing, respectively. In 1973, he was one of the backing vocalists on the recording of The Music of Bob Friedman.

His last recording appears to be Frank Sinatra’s 1979 boxed set, Trilogy, although he appears on several CD re-packagings, including Sam Cooke’s Portrait of a Legend: 1951-1964, Eartha Kitt’s Eartha Quake, and Blues in the Night: The Johnny Mercer Songbook.

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